A forest is defined by Australia’s National Forest Inventory as an area incorporating all living and non-living components, dominated by trees having usually a single stem and a mature or potentially mature stand height exceeding two metres, and with an existing or potential crown cover of over-storey strata about equal to or greater than 20%. This definition includes Australia’s diverse native forests, regardless of age. It is also sufficiently broad to encompass areas of trees that are sometimes described as woodlands.

Based on this definition, the total area of native forest as at 30 June 2001 is estimated at 164.4 million hectares (ha), which is about 21% of Australia’s land area (table 17.1). Of this area, 124.4 million ha (76%) were on public land and 37.3 million ha (23%) were on private land (Bureau of Rural Sciences 2001a). Of the publicly owned forests, 11.9 million ha (9%) were managed by state forest authorities for multiple uses including wood production, recreation and informal reserves, 17.7 million ha (14%) were on other Crown land, 74.5 million ha (60%) were on leasehold tenure and 20.5 million ha (16%) were in Nature Conservation Reserves (for further information on forests in Nature Conservation Reserves, see the article Forest conservation). Taking forested leasehold land together with private freehold forest, some 111.8 million ha, or 68% of Australia’s forests, were under private management. (Differences between these figures and previously published estimates of forested areas are largely due to recent improvements in forest mapping, which have generated more accurate figures. This is particularly the case in South Australia.)

17.1 NATIVE FOREST AREAS - 30 June 2001

NSW(a)

Vic.

Qld

SA

WA

Tas.

NT

ACT

Aust.

’000 ha

’000 ha

’000 ha

’000 ha

’000 ha

’000 ha

’000 ha

’000 ha

’000 ha

DOMINANT CANOPY SPECIES

Eucalypt

Tall

3,946

2,396

1,073

1

171

1,116

-

29

8,732

Medium

18,288

3,483

28,790

625

20,815

1,266

22,117

84

95,468

Low

186

435

1,789

1,206

3,431

62

6,724

8

13,841

Mallee

3,102

1,045

127

6,110

4,973

-

-

-

15,357

Total

25,523

7,358

31,778

7,942

29,390

2,444

28,841

121

133,397

Acacia

12

63

7,127

1,826

3,986

73

3,513

(b)-

16,600

Melaleuca

44

90

2,094

1

155

1

1,708

-

4,092

Rainforest

467

16

2,926

-

7

598

318

-

4,332

Casuarina

67

4

140

728

40

1

-

(b)-

980

Mangrove

3

3

154

20

173

-

445

-

798

Callitris

261

50

387

248

-

1

-

-

946

Other

363

132

1,622

23

1,048

19

55

(b)-

3,262

Total(a)

26,742

7,716

46,227

10,789

34,799

3,137

34,879

121

164,411

TENURE

Public

Multiple use forest(c)

1,797

3,308

3,884

5

1,612

1,212

-

2

11,820

Nature Conservation Reserve(d)

4,899

3,006

3,225

3,933

4,364

926

46

108

20,507

Other Crown land(e)

1,801

175

1,682

373

13,206

98

332

-

17,667

Leasehold(f)

9,144

43

28,199

5,227

14,025

-

17,804

11

74,453

Total

17,640

6,532

36,991

9,538

33,207

2,237

18,182

121

124,448

Private

6,985

1,183

9,182

852

1,502

900

16,694

-

37,298

Unresolved tenure

2,117

1

54

399

90

(b) -

3

-

2,664

Total(a)

26,742

7,716

46,227

10,789

34,799

3,137

34,879

121

164,411

(a) NSW figures by forest type yet to be finalised, but total area for NSW is correct.(b) Area less than 1,000 ha.(c) Publicly owned land managed for multiple use including wood production.(d) Public land on which wood production is excluded (National Parks, etc.).(e) Reserved areas of educational, scientific and other public institutional land, including easements, defence land, and other minor tenure classifications.(f) Crown land where the right to harvest or clear land must be approved by state/territory governments. Often known as pastoral leases.

Source: Bureau of Rural Sciences, 'National Forest Inventory 2001'.

Plantations

The combined resource of standing planted forests in Australia was 1.6 million ha planted to December 2001 (table 17.2). Of this total, industrial plantations comprised approximately 1.5 million ha, with the remainder covered by a range of joint ownership arrangements. Softwood plantations, which are dominated by the exotic species Pinus radiata, represented 62% (980,000 ha). Hardwood plantations, which are almost all native eucalyptus species, mainly the Eucalyptus globulus variety, represented 37% (588,000 ha). The proportion of the estate accounted for by hardwood plantations is continuing to increase, up from 15% in 1994 and 29% in 1999.

A diverse range of ownership arrangements exists in the Australian plantation industry, including a variety of joint venture and annuity schemes between public and private parties. Of the standing plantation estate as at December 2001, 44% was on public land and 56% was on private land. While the area of plantations in public ownership has lessened over time, the proportion in private ownership has increased. Just over half of the resource planted since 1990 involved private ownership of land and trees, while only a quarter of the resource planted during this period involved public ownership.

Farm forestry generally refers to the incorporation of commercial tree growing into farming systems. This may take the form of smaller scale plantations on farms, timber belts, wind breaks, alleys and wide-spaced plantings, and may also include management of native forest for commercial returns on farms.

Farm forestry is increasingly becoming adopted as part of farm management planning and integrated into existing land uses, not only to supply wood but also to provide a range of benefits such as environmental protection and increased agricultural production.

To date, plantation farm forestry has mostly occurred in higher rainfall regions (greater than 600 mm) where good growth rates can be achieved and there is an existing timber processing industry. Many farmers have also entered into farm forestry by leasing their land or forming joint venture agreements with large-scale forest management companies. Fostering farm forestry uptake, and revegetation in general, in lower rainfall regions, will become an increasing priority in government programs designed to improve land management and ameliorate environmental degradation, especially salinity and water quality.

The baseline area for plantations owned outright by individuals having total estates less than 1,000 ha (i.e. the small-grower sector) was just on 67,000 ha in 2000, or nearly 5% of Australia’s total plantation estate (Bureau of Rural Sciences 2001b). In contrast to the wider plantation estate, which mainly comprised softwoods, the farm forest resource comprised over 60% hardwoods.

The management of private native forests is recognised as an important component of farm forestry, as 23% of Australia’s total native forest area is in private ownership and a further 45% is on privately managed leasehold land.